Tip #3369 - Device Manager
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Q:
You keep mentioning the Device Manager, but I'm still a little confused
about what all it does. And besides that, I have no idea how to manage
anything in there. Can you help?
A:
Well, you've come to the right place, because as a matter of fact, I can
help! The Device Manager feature in Windows XP isn't something we've gone
into too much detail about in the past. Well, now is as good of a time
as any, so here we go!
To begin, the Device
Manager is the service that holds all the information about every piece
of hardware you have on your computer. It provides support for how your
hardware is configured and how it interacts with everything else that
might be on your computer (such as programs, etc). With the Device Manager,
you can also change the way your hardware is configured or if you want,
change the way parts of it interacts with the other components of your
PC. It is also used for updating drivers for different devices, modifying
hardware settings and troubleshooting certain problems.
In more plain terms,
the Device Manager is mainly used to see if a computer's hardware is working
properly or not. If something isn't right, it will then also help to fix
it. The Device Manager is also used quite often with anything that deals
with the drivers on a computer. That includes updating them, installing
them, uninstalling them, reinstalling them and so on. If something is
having a complication with something else, the Device Manager can help.
There are a couple
of ways you can access the Device Manager. You can either right click
on the My Computer icon on your desktop, choose Properties,
click on the Hardware tab and then hit the Device
Manager button or you can right click on the My Computer
icon on your desktop, choose Manage and then double click
the Device Manager link. Either way, the below screenshot
is similar to what you'll see. Of course, it will list all of your computer's
devices though, not mine!
Once you get there,
you will see a list of all your computer's services. Now, if you want
to check the status of a certain device, find it and just double click
it. Once you do that, all of that particular device's components will
come up. Right click on one and choose Properties. Under
the General tab, you will see a Device status
box. That will tell you if that piece of hardware is working properly
or not. If there happens to be a problem, the description will tell you
and you can then start troubleshooting. Just click on the Troubleshoot
button if you need to do that.
In the description,
there may also be a problem code number that you can use to call for technical
support. That number will help them in determining what your problem is
and they can use that to help you fix it. This should only be used if
you can't get anything to work after some troubleshooting techniques though.
Now, if you would
like to enable or disable a device through the Device Manager, just double
click on the item, right click it and choose Enable or
Disable. That's all there is to it. If you need to uninstall
a device, double click the item, right click it and choose Uninstall.
On the next box that comes up, click OK. You can then
shut down your computer and remove the device for good. It will no longer
be a part of your computer system.
Those are just a few
of the things you can do with the Device Manager, but they are the most
common. If you want to do something that I didn't talk about in this tip,
use the Help file from the main Device Manager window.
It will help you do anything you could ever dream of. So, here's to easier
device management and control!
~ Erin
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